Stories They Tell

I haven't posted on this blog in a while but today I have a really big announcement! I've decided that it's time for me to get the contents of my design notebooks (about 15 in all) out into the w...

http://storiestheytell.blogspot.com/2020/09/polymer-surface-design-new-discovery.html

As an artist, something I’m frequently asked is “where do your ideas come from?” Neil Gaiman, a writer I enjoy, says he tells people that you get ideas from daydreaming or bring bored, that...

http://storiestheytell.blogspot.com/2019/02/an-idea-is-born.html

Making art is really about problem-solving. Your thoughts/emotions are the starting point. You come up with an idea, you have a feeling you want to express, you see a scene you want to captur...

http://storiestheytell.blogspot.com/2019/01/on-making-art.html

“Repeat Motifs – Unique Finishes” A 3-Day Intensive for Polymer Clay Surface Design June 21-23, 2017 Join me this June for the 5th year of Art on the Farm, at my home studio in Bra...

http://storiestheytell.blogspot.com/2017/05/art-on-farm-spring-2017-workshop.html

Some earthshaking discoveries in science sneak into the public consciousness slowly, and many are never even widely known. The same thing happens in the science of the art world from time to time...

http://storiestheytell.blogspot.com/2017/04/embracing-new-paradigm.html

As artists, one of the most important things we do when we create is to edit. For instance, when faced with a stunning landscape, the impulse may be to capture it, so you take a photo and in tha...

http://storiestheytell.blogspot.com/2017/04/randomness-vs-control.html

Taking an art technique-- in this case, one for polymer clay-- that you've developed and then translating it so others can learn it is always a crap shoot. The method seems so clear to you ...

http://storiestheytell.blogspot.com/2016/10/when-photos-say-it-all.html

Last summer I began teaching at a very special venue in Vermont, Fletcher Farm School for the Arts and Crafts. Fletcher Farm reminds me of the summer camp my sister and I went to in the Poc...

http://storiestheytell.blogspot.com/2016/08/art-on-different-farm-fletcher-farm.html

In announcing my Art on the Farm workshops for 2016, I’m naming them ‘Polymer Clay: A New Way’ for two reasons. Not only am I teaching a surface design and coloring approach to polymer�...

http://storiestheytell.blogspot.com/2016/03/polymer-clay-new-way-at-art-on-farm-2016.html

“Idiosyncrasy” – a mode of behavior or way of thought peculiar to an individual: It’s been an interesting few months. Notice how people use the word ‘interesting’ when they don’t...

http://storiestheytell.blogspot.com/2015/11/idiosyncratic.html

Earlier this week, Sage Bray, editor of The Polymer Arts magazine said some very nice things about my work on her blog. I wrote her to say that I really appreciated it when someone takes the tim...

http://storiestheytell.blogspot.com/2015/06/recovering-your-imaginationlessons-from.html

One of the benefits of growing older is that you tend to be philosophical about a lesson learned rather than bummed and depressed. Lately I entered a piece of mine—a necklace I titled ‘Molt...

http://storiestheytell.blogspot.com/2015/04/design-competitionssweet-dreams-or.html

The phrase ‘you can’t get something for nothing’ refers to the idea that it’s unlikely you can reap a reward or achieve some sort of value from something that's offered with no investm...

http://storiestheytell.blogspot.com/2015/03/when-something-is-nothing.html

"Art on the Farm -- New Ways with Construction, Texture and Color" is the foundation 3-day polymer clay retreat I hold at my workshop in Vermont. Here’s the link to my website with more inf...

http://storiestheytell.blogspot.com/2015/03/art-on-farm-may-27-29-2015.html

In my workshops I always begin with a discussion of form. I wish I could throw all the shape-cutters and templates being sold for polymer clay into the ocean. Don’t get me wrong—I have templa...

http://storiestheytell.blogspot.com/2015/01/tales-of-heart.html

“Curiosity is essential for progress. Only when we look to worlds beyond our own can we really know if there’s room for improvement.”                          �...

http://storiestheytell.blogspot.com/2015/01/curiosity.html

Every once in a while a new polymer clay technique makes a big splash and Flickr is swamped with images from the dozens of artists trying it out. Unfortunately, many just follow the steps in the ...

http://storiestheytell.blogspot.com/2014/10/cracking-code-to-making-it-your-own.html

Today a friend asked why I never taught at bead shows. I told her that I don't teach project-specific classes-- I teach techniques and then mentor my students in how to adapt those techniques to ...

http://storiestheytell.blogspot.com/2014/08/art-on-farm-workshop-expanded-resources.html

Working in a series, sticking with a particular theme or focus for your creativity, was something I had little interest in until recently. I came late to the polymer clay game, having followed...

http://storiestheytell.blogspot.com/2014/08/working-in-series.html

I love shapes-- ones from nature, from pottery, from architecture, from sea life, from archaeology-- there are so many forms out there that can be starting points for polymer work. One of the e...

http://storiestheytell.blogspot.com/2014/07/morphology.html

It's been a while since I've participated in the Inspired by Reading challenge but this time I got a jump on the reading and obtained a copy of Jhumpa Lahiri's book of short stories, The Interpre...

http://storiestheytell.blogspot.com/2014/04/inspired-by-reading-interpreter-of.html

Gazing out on several feet of slowly-melting snow from my studio window, it's hard to imagine that Spring will ever be here. But the signs are there-- robins hunting for worms in the muddy ground...

http://storiestheytell.blogspot.com/2014/04/spring-on-farm.html

It's an interesting feature of the English language that so many words have both positive and negative connotations, depending on their context. “Void” is one of these. “The Void” is use...

http://storiestheytell.blogspot.com/2014/03/voids.html

The process of making art is a lot of work. There's no magic in it. I'm not saying that imagaination or the source of inspiration isn't magical, I'm saying that the day-to-day, getting up and goi...

http://storiestheytell.blogspot.com/2014/02/theres-no-magic.html

You may have heard the phrase “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”. It's not. It's unethical and usually illegal. I'm not talking about an individual who sees something in a tutorial...

http://storiestheytell.blogspot.com/2014/02/imitation-not-sincerest-form-of-flattery.html